More than 1,300 high school students across Northwest Indiana will get a chance to work with power tools and learn about careers like roofing at the second annual Construction & Skilled Trades Day in Crown Point later this month.

The Northwest Indiana Workforce Board, the Construction Advancement Foundation and Indiana Plan for Equal Employment will host the career event between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Nov. 27 at the Industrial Building at 889 S. Court St. in the Lake County Fairgrounds in Crown Point.

More than 17 trade organizations will be on hand with mock work sites where students can learn what it's like to be an electrician, carpenter or boilermaker, and work with some of the same equipment they do out in the field. The trade unions will offer hands-on demonstrations at simulated professional job sites. Students will be able to participate in activities to get a better idea of what the work entails.

The Center for Workforce Innovations said in a press release that the event would "introduce students and others with the career opportunities in union building and construction," "acquaint those in attendance on how apprenticeships provide skills to compete in tomorrow’s workforce and how to successfully apply for an apprenticeship program," and "provide information on to successfully apply to an apprenticeship program."

Last year, at the inaugural Construction & Skilled Trades Day in Crown Point, students from 26 local high schools visited with local unions like the Carpenters and Millwrights, Sheet Metal Workers, Carpenters and Millwrights, Ironworkers, Plumbers, Electricians, Teamsters, Operating Engineers, Bricklayers, Roofers, Insulators, Pipefitters, Laborers, Technical Engineers and Painters and Glazers to learn about careers in the trades.

EMSI Inc. estimates Northwest Indiana has more than 20,000 construction jobs, making it one of the top industries for employment in the Region.

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Joseph S. Pete is a Lisagor Award-winning business reporter who covers steel, industry, unions, the ports, retail, banking and more. The Indiana University grad has been with The Times since 2013 and blogs about craft beer, culture and the military.

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